If
you're not a dog lover or one who appreciates the connection made
between a human and an animal, this might be the blog to skip.
Okay
then....
Brewster
walked up and introduced himself to me in Nashville back in November
of 1995. He literally asked to come home with me. There was no
doubt about the request he was making. He had been in an abusive
situation and wanted a good home with a human who would appreciate
him. Those of you who know dog breeds and temperaments, know that
Chows are generally stubborn and insistent. Though he wasn't
all chow, Brewster had enough in him that he made his point very
clear about coming home with me. This 33 pound pile of fur with
a purple tongue had charmed me.
I
called Tammy and told her I had a "souvenir" for her.
She was thinking
earrings or jewelry, but she welcomed Brewster with open arms
and a
big heart.
And
lots of patience. After the 16 hour ride from Nashville, Brewster
jumped
from the van, pranced like a deer through the snow (he hadn't
seen snow
before), then ran into the house, found the living room and immediately
lifted his leg on the big blue stuffed chair.
Though
Tammy and I possibly overreacted by screaming in unison, "Noooo!",
Brewster forgave us and rewarded us by quickly learning the house
rule:
"No peeing on the furniture". It's a good rule for any
house, with or
without a dog.
Over
the years, we played and hiked every day. He had a lot of energy.
He also had a strange affection for anything plastic. His favorite
toy
was a giant plastic Easter egg we found at Target that measured
about
14 inches long by 8 inches tall. Bright yellow. We'd kick it and
he'd
dodge it, then go after it, riding it by jumping on with his front
legs
and pushing himself and the egg with his rear legs. Brewster was
always
good about making our house guests feel welcome by challenging
them to a
game of "egg".
But
the moments I liked the best were when we'd sit side by side on
the
front step or on the bench overlooking the pond, admiring the
"kingdom"
as we'd call it, while contemplating life and the days events.
I truly believe
he appreciated those moments as much as I did. He often wouldn't
let me
get up to leave. If I started to move, he'd position himself across
my lap
so I couldn't get up. He was very persuasive.
When
we first got Brewster, he had every worm in the book, including
heart worm. At the time, the treatment was for the vet to give
him
just enough arsenic to kill the worms but not the dog. Brewster
trusted us to do the right thing for him. Over time he also had
a hip surgery and a few other smaller procedures done. He was
worth
every penny we ever spent.
One
of his "jobs" was to make us laugh every day, whether
it was hiding
his dog dish to let us know he didn't care for the new food, or
whipping
a tennis shoe up on the counter to tell us it was time for a walk.
Also,
somehow he could magically appear the second one of us opened
up the
cheese drawer in the refrigerator. And he wasn't a cheese snob
either.
Plain old cheddar would do.
And
the noises he'd make to get us up in the morning! Grunts, groans,
shaking his collar, dropping a rubber ball on the hard floor.
He knew barking
wasn't what we wanted to hear in the morning, so he'd come up
with a new
noise we couldn't ignore. Tammy and I would lay in bed laughing,
wondering
how long it took him to think up "that one".
Well,
Brewster passed away Sunday morning, June 1st, at 1:30am with
Tammy and I holding him. Though his kidney's gave out at age 14,
his spirit is
ageless and lives on through the timely and important lesson he
taught us:
Eat, Play and Love - that's what's important.
So
many self help books have been written about us humans learning
to give "unconditional love". Nobody needs a book to
learn about
that. Get yourself a dog and pay attention. Brewster was truly
my teacher and friend and I'm so blessed that he picked me all
those
many years ago. And I know Tammy never regretted not getting earrings
from Nashville on that trip back in 1995. She often called Brewster
the best
souvenir ever. Amen.
We
miss you B-Man.
Peace,
den
6/3/08
